President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday tasked parliament with forming a broad coalition that reflects France’s “republican institutions” in order to overcome the gridlock created by an inconclusive snap election.
“Nobody won,” Macron said in a written message to voters published in French regional newspapers about the election.
“I am asking all political forces who recognise themselves in the republican institutions, the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, a European orientation and the defence of France’s independence, to start a sincere and fair dialogue to build a solid, and by definition pluralist, majority,” Macron said.
The wording looked to be intended to exclude not only Marine Le Pen’s far-right RN party, but also far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI), which makes up a significant section of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP).
The election called by Macron with the goal of “clarifying” the political landscape resulted in a hung parliament.
Centrists associated with Macron sought an alliance with the right on Wednesday to resist the NFP’s ambitions, which emerged with the majority of members in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s government will continue in power as Paris finalizes preparations for the Olympics, which begin in just over two weeks.
However, Attal’s centrist parliamentary group has lost ground, and a search for his successor is underway.
French leftists think that as the largest bloc in the next National Assembly, with approximately 190 seats, they are entitled to propose a new Prime Minister.
“The president refuses to recognise the results of the ballot box, which put the New Popular Front ahead in terms of votes and seats,” Melenchon wrote on social media in response to Macron’s message.
Melenchon argued that Macron should “accept defeat” at the hands of the socialist alliance.
‘Beyond reproach’
Meanwhile, the president’s Renaissance party appeared divided as it sought friends in the lower chamber, with some hoping to form a broad coalition with forces spanning from the center left to the right, while others only wanted to work with conservatives.
Prior to Wednesday’s letter, Macron had kept a quiet profile following the election, and he was in Washington for a NATO conference.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who was also re-elected, told CNews that he would back a “right-wing prime minister”.
Any challenger would have to pass a confidence vote in parliament when it resumes business next week.
The wide leftist NFP alliance, which includes the Greens, Socialists, Communists, and the LFI, has stated that they will propose a candidate for prime minister by the end of the week.
Melenchon, the divisive LFI leader, has nominated 33-year-old Clemence Guette, who developed his plan when he campaigned for president in 2022.
The more moderate Socialist leader, Olivier Faure, has also stated that he is willing to lead a cabinet himself.
Despite performing below expectations, the anti-immigrant RN and its allies gained seats in the National Assembly, rising from 89 in 2022 to more than 140 today.
Winning an absolute majority “has only been postponed,” Le Pen told reporters, branding the parliamentary maneuvers a “unworthy circus.”
Jordan Bardella, the party’s 28-year-old head, accused Macron of “organising the country’s paralysis by bringing the far left to the gates of power through shameful arrangements.”
“Now his message is: ‘Figure it out yourselves’,” he said.
On the left, Raphael Glucksmann, founder of progressive leftist movement Place Publique, said “parliamentary democracy” would be the only way forward for his camp.
“We’re going to have to talk to people we’ve fought against, without abandoning our convictions, and convince them,” he told the Nouvel Obs magazine.